MEDICAL POT FIRM MULLS LEGAL ACTION OVER DELAYS

OTTAWA -- The company hired to grow marijuana for medical use is
threatening legal action against Ottawa, as the process to supply the drug
to sick Canadians bogs down.

In a confidential letter to Health Minister Anne McLellan, Prairie Plant
Systems Inc. president Brent Zettl says the government has negatively
affected the company's ability to raise capital and to develop other lines
of its business's enterprises.

"This is also not to mention the demoralizing impact it has had on the
staff that have worked diligently on this project," Mr. Zettl wrote in his
letter.

The federal government contracted with Prairie Plant Systems to grow
marijuana for people in Canada who have the right to consume the drug for
pain relief and other symptoms of chronic disease.

However, the plan has run into several delays since the cabinet shuffle one
year ago in which Ms. McLellan took over the Health Department from Allan Rock.

A court ruling requires the federal government to make the drug available
by July.

In his letter, Mr. Zettl asks the minister for a response to inaccuracies
Mr. Zettl believes were contained in a series of newspaper articles.

"Without a response (which was the case for previous requests), I will have
no choice but to consider other measures to protect the Company's
reputation," says the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by The
Globe and Mail. "This is particularly important to us in light of the fact
that Health Canada has prohibited the Company speaking publicly on the
project."

In his letter, Mr. Zettl disputes suggestions that a crop being grown by
his company at an abandoned Flin Flon mine is too potent to use.

The cannabis contains 20 to 25 per cent THC, the active ingredient of
marijuana that is said to ameliorate pain and other symptoms.

Mr. Zettl says in his letter that Ottawa stipulated in its contract that
the pot have a THC content of five per cent or more, with no upper limit.

He adds that his company has shown it can produce a cannabis product with a
THC content of 0.24 per cent to 25 per cent.

The company has produced greater yields of the crop than the federal
government says it is delivering, he wrote.

"It is a fact that more than enough material was produced . . . to satisfy
all the planned clinical trials," he says. "This material is packaged and
ready to ship, pending your department's final approval."

Farah Mohamed, a spokesperson for Ms. McLellan, said yesterday that the
department is not questioning the quality of the product but insists that
it be safe and of high quality before clinical trials can begin.

However, Toronto lawyer Alan Young said Ottawa has consistently made
efforts to discredit the project since Ms. McLellan took the job.

"I think it's clear that the government is trying to discredit its own
program," said Mr. Young, who is involved in court efforts to loosen
restrictions on the drug.